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A MUCH better restaurant was the Palisades in... - Review of Mountain Lake Lodge

We stayed in the main lodge (beautiful inside and out) for 3 nights, our room lacked AC but the fan kept us very comfortable. The bathroom was a bit poky and there were no pictures on the walls in the room but generally it was very nicely decorated.

We were disappointed on arrival to find that;-the conservancy centre is not staffed (therefore there are no nature talks or guides, however we were offered the opportunity of borrowing a book on wildlife by the outdoor centre staff)-the lake is more of a pond at the moment,-the table tennis tables don't exist yet, nor is the outfitter built or the aerial adventure complete yet (we didn't visit MLL for any of these specifically, but as is was raining and they're advertised as there we were a bit disappointed on our rainy days)-the restaurant menu is basic and after dining in once I wouldn't go back. The food was simple and not of great quality, although breakfast was fine. A MUCH better restaurant was the Palisades in nearby Eggleston.

However you could still see the cabin where the Houseman's stayed in Dirty Dancing, practice your lifts in the heated pool, relax in the jacuzzi, play giant chess on the lawn, the hikes were great with amazing panoramas (free trail guide from hotel), and there's a real sense of getting away from it all.

Pembroke has a nice cascade, and also great proximity to New River for kayaking.

We plan to return to MLL, but not for 5 years or so to let it settle in and to let the lake re-fill.

Room Tip: I'm glad we stayed in the main lodge - no TV in the room but the view over the lake / pond was n...

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Stayed June 2013, traveled as a couple

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Ask V G about Mountain Lake Lodge

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

Jeffery B, General Manager at Mountain Lake Lodge, responded to this review,
June 16, 2013

Dear V G,

Thank you for your feedback and I was sorry to read of your diappointment with your experience. As the resort recently reopened after some extensiove renovations, some of our offerings were not quite ready when the rest of the property opened - our Outfitters will open on June 28, along with the Mountain Lake Treetop Adventures, our new aerial adventure course. And yes, the lake is in the process of refilling - after all but disappearing several years ago, we recently repaired the lake bottom to prevent drainage and we are hopeful that the lake will be full once again within the next year or so.

It is through feedback such as yours that we push ourselves to get better - your comments on the restaurant menu are an example of how feedback will inspire change. Our chef welcomes guest feedback and on his behalf, thank you for sharing. HARVEST is committed to sourcing local ingredients and preparing them simply and thoughtfully and with each passing day, the menu continues to evolve. I'm glad you enjoyed Palisades - we know the owner and we are very proud to consider a friend of Mountain Lake and a pillar of our community.

I do hope that you'll consider joining us again if your travels bring you to our region - thank you again for the feedback.

Warm regards,

Jeffery BurrellGeneral Manager

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Spent 2 nights in the lodge. Looked at the hotel website before the trip. Was planning on having dinner there both night. First night we were planning to have a drink and just crab a quick bite (light dinner) at the bar (according to the website they serve food at the bar). But when we get there, we were told they don't serve any food at the bar yet. We were directed to the main dining for food. Going over to Harvest, got a really small menu, not much to choose from (the menu is half the size of the sample menu showing online now). I don't really like what's on the dinner menu. I heard a couple on the table next to us asked the waitress if they can get the lunch menu and she gave it to them. We asked our waiter if there's more option than we were shown, and he said no. I ordered a shrimp pasta off the dinner menu, pasta was overcooked, sauce was a bit bland. Then second night for dinner, we take a look at the menu, the exact same thing. So we end driving down the mountain and eat somewhere else.

Back to the room, it's clean and looked good. There's a whirlpool in our suite, we turned it on, it's leaking. We called front desk, they sent somebody up right away. Took them a while but they got it fixed. Also the whirlpool itself is not exactly the cleanest. And the shower head is half broken. One thing I need to give credit though is the shampoo and lotion there, they do smell really good.

So in general, really nice and friendly people, which is a big asset. But new management need to get their act together. I can tell you I wasn't actually the happiest camper, if it wasn't for all the nice people there, I might have checked out and left early.

Stayed June 2013, traveled as a couple

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Ask Agnes L about Mountain Lake Lodge

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

Jeffery B, General Manager at Mountain Lake Lodge, responded to this review,
June 16, 2013

Dear Agnes L,

Thank you for taking the time to provide comments about your stay, Allow me to first offer a sincere apology that you did not have the experience you had hoped - I've shared your feedback with our team and we're working hard each day to consistently refine our services and processes to deliver the best experiences possible. HARVEST, our new restaurant concept, is committed to serving locally sourced ingredients, prepared in a simple, thoughtful manner. Our Chef welcomes your feedback - and like the rest of our resort, he too is always reviewing guest comments and modifying his menu to exceed our guest's expectations. Finally, thank you for your comment on the friendliness of our staff - I am so proud of the team in place here and see them getting better every day.

I do hope you'll allow us the opportunity to welcome you back - it is through feedback such as yours that allows us to get better. Thank you again.

Warm regards,

Jeffery BurrellGeneral Manager

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This is a beautiful place, the buildings and the setting. We did have a problem with our room. We reserved a king bed and when they got there the room was already occupied. Then they gave us another room and it had 2 queen beds. We returned and eventually got a room in another building with a king bed. This actually worked out better because there was also a huge fireplace, microwave, fridge, balcony and TV which the rooms at the main lodge do not have. There are a lot of things to do such as hike, bike some trails, lay by the pool, play human size chess, tennis and explore the sites. They have numerous activities planned throughout the day. We went to a bond fire and roasted marshmallows and made s'mores while listening to stories. A very warm and friendly place. Oh, and the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed here. So cool.

Stayed June 2013

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Ask PT30548 about Mountain Lake Lodge

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Thank you so much for your kind review - I'm very happy to read that you enjoyed your stay and that you found some time to join us for our first campfire of the season. Our team has been working very hard to re-introduce Mountain Lake to a new generation of guests and new elements for our guests who have been coming for generations. Thank you again for the feedback and I hope you can join us again in the very near future.

Warm regards,

Jeffery BurrellGeneral Manager

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Very good experience recently at the lodge. Its in the middle of nowhere but thats what we wanted. No TV's in the room or Air conditioning but there are ceiling fans and they work very well.

Beautiful propertyand lovely older hotel. Not a lot to do unless you hike and.or mountain bike. But this is what we wanted just a couple of days to chill out.

We were there the wekk after memeorail day weekend and there were very few people there, like maybe 5 other rooms so we had the whole place to ourselves.

Food was very very good just sorry there wern't enough people to have the breakfast buffet..... But overall very good food. There are continuing to make improvements to the property and its a beautiful place just out of the way. No way you'd want to come down the mountain once you there so plan of your meals being there.

Overall rooms clean and comforable and would go back with another living social deal or special price....

Room Tip: we were on the 2nd floor north side and was very quiet and comforable. No elevator but stairs are ce...

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Stayed June 2013, traveled as a couple

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Ask Wayne L about Mountain Lake Lodge

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We visited family in the Virginia and took a drive to Va. Tech such a beautiful campus. Then we went to the Mountain Lake Lodge atop a moutain lies the beautiful resort. It was a shooting location for "Dirty Dancing " my wife's favorite movie. We decided to have lunch at the lodge in the Harvest room. They served meals family style the sides were great loved the corn with spinach and rigatoni with cream sauce . The main entrees we had were pork loin very good and meat loaf that was actually meat balls. I am a meat loaf fan but not this style dried balls should have went with the chicken. Still a very nice lunch. Unfortunately lake dried up due to recent earth quake I hope it is able to come back beautiful location.

Stayed June 2013, traveled with family

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Ask JBCJ about Mountain Lake Lodge

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Jeffery B, General Manager at Mountain Lake Lodge, responded to this review,
June 10, 2013

Dear JBCJ,

Thank you for the positive write up - we get many visitors who come to enjoy the property for the day and to visit the site where Dirty Dancing was filmed. We are working on a new Dirty Dancing exhibition which we hope to have finished before our first Dirty Daning weekend this July - so I hope you'll bring the family back to enjoy the Dirty Dancing experience even better than in recent years! Your comments on our new Family Dinners in HARVEST were most welcome - we've introduced a new family style service on Sundays as a way to recreate great shared meals from all of our pasts - where families gathered around the dinner table to enjoy great food and company. We've had overall great feedback from this new offering and will continue to grow it in the future - I'll also be sure to share with our Chef your comments on the meatballs - we review guest feedback after every meal and use that feedback to constantly refine our menu - so thank you so much for sharing and I hope we'll have the opportunity to welcome you back very soon.

Warm regards,

Jeffery BurrellGeneral Manager

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Just returned from a two night stay at the Mountain Lake Lodge. They have done a wonderful job with the renovations. Our stay was very pleasant despite the rain. The drive up the mountain is beautiful and the lodge grounds are beautiful as well. We ate dinner both nights in the Harvest Restaurant and were not dissapointed. The staff is very friendly and courteous. I defintely recommend this property and will go back.

Stayed June 2013, traveled with family

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Ask SharonGreensboro about Mountain Lake Lodge

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Jeffery B, General Manager at Mountain Lake Lodge, responded to this review,
June 10, 2013

Dear SharonGreensboro,

Thank you for the kind words - I'm happy that you enjoyed your stay despite the recent rains - all this rain is helping to refill our lake, so we welcome the liquid sunshine here! I was delighted to read your comments on HARVEST, our new signature dining room - I'll be sure to let hte staff know they made a positive impression on you. We've worked very hard to introduce the new Mountain Lake experience to our guests and I'm glad you enjoyed it - I hope you'll be able to visit us again soon, we've got a very active event schedule this summer!

Warm regards,

Jeffery BurrellGeneral Manager

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Good times great staff very clean and good food tour was amazing guide was very informative and told neat stories about cast and Dirty Dancing filming I went for my birthday and the host Dirty Dancing weekends I give this a A++

Stayed July 2012, traveled with family

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Ask Heather C about Mountain Lake Lodge

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

Jeffery B, General Manager at Mountain Lake Lodge, responded to this review,
June 6, 2013

Dear Heather C.,

Thank you so much for your great review! I'm very pleased that you enjoyed one of our Dirty Dancing weekends and hope that you'll have the opportunity to join us again for our new Dirty Dancing Weekends. Our first one is coming in July, and in addition to many of the same great elements from past Dirty Dancing weekends, we've got some new surprises that we're eager to share. A live band and more are among the changes and we're very excited to unveil a brand new exhibit space featuring some of Mountain Lake's Dirty Dancing memorabilia, behind the scenes photos and of course the movie itself - playing in a loop throughout the day! We will have that space completed in plenty of time for our first Dirty Dancing Weekend of the season, July 19-21.

Thank you again for your feedback and hope we'll have the pleasure of welcoming you back in the near future.

Warm regards,

Jeffery BurrellGeneral Manager

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The newly renovated historic Mountain Lake Lodge features 43 Rooms in Main Stone Lodge, 16 in Chestnut Lodge, 9 Mountain Homes in Blueberry Ridge, 8 historic rustic cabins and 9 Front Lawn Cottages on 2,600 acres of preserved mountaintop property owned by the Mary Moody Northen Endowment. Mountain Lake Conservancy, a non-profit organization founded in 1989, serves to protect the land and wildlife resources on the property for future generations....more less

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Also Known As:

Mountain Lake Pembroke

Hotel Mountain Lake

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